Golf club construction



Sept. 5, 1950 M. MILLER 2,520,950

GOLF CLUB CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 4, 1946 INVENTOR.

EMERY M. MILLER F9 --3 A TTORNE Y i atentect Sept. 5,

ltmer y M.

Miller, Denver} G619) Application November 4, 19 4s, s riarnmfmmm 1"This invention relates to golf club cpnstnujfction and moreparticularly relates to the 'marki' g 16f golf "0111b heads'to assist inproper alinement'p'jf the club. "Before ajv gfolf ,l 'lbiis use dltoistitike'al';b;1l, .-the player vajddresses' thefbfll, 'i...e.,'.1ines the (1111b properly rlei'tive to .the'ballito jinsureproper-r lationship' between 1111110 and ballwhen the bll'gis struck bythe fclnb. The iron cclobs ,of'l thewsetlfor the most part are-playedWhile'the'ballis reetin ingress, which sfibstantiallly coyerslthe"lower-.snrfaces of (the club head, and conseguently 4th? player "judgesthe club positionlin eid'dressingthe ball, by conso'iouj'sly :Ornnconsoiouly .obserizing the 'lineofthe upper edge .ciflthetmbimrleition 'tplthe contemplated line of flight .of Ith,e'. .b,1l.

Similarly, in the use armada eolubvsgthestriking "fiat and'inothers areroundedwithlthe'top snriface rounding therirom, l therplayer experieneee7 "calculated to "insure proper flight "of "the iiball n anyetroke.

'A"furtherobjeot df'this' invention'jis flto proyi de .a form of markinfor golf club hea dswhih may be: embodied? in iidiffererit forms, e11of" Whi h ere equally eff ective infprov'r'dingproper' directionf forthe elub'head in 'striking'the 'jball. {Other objects'reside*in'novel'iieta lsiqf cons'truotion "and "novel combinattions"and arrangements of parts; all "of Whichillfbeffuliy-flescribed in thecourse "of the following "description. I

Briefly stated, the present *ginvention is he'sepl on'the discovery thatit-'is"possib'le*-to;positionf'the v(3111b "head properly in playing'iell*"shotsihy*"ha ving 'a 'color marking ordivision line extendingaeros the striking face of a golf club headwt hehfisperpendicular to theline "of 1inteniieolflight, ecnfd if projected, would intersect thepoint ofinters ecti'on wo'f the top surfaoe'ef the *ohi'b heefdwith theperipheryof the Shaft. The ehaftsuffaee 'iietermining the point ofintersetion snb$tantiei1y parallels the 'aXi's "0f isafd *Shaft, "but isspaced therefrom, and-such spavoingserves tobre:k'-the p i h sion au edby the fl re Q th ito t egemb. k;

"{Eheinvention will be'morefnllyexplained ith reference to theacoompanyin'gfirawingsjinithe several Views-of whiohfikeflpartshave'beenfdesig+ notecl simi'lariyia ti in w ch: Fig.1 is-afrontel'evetionof a golf club 'ghead embodying features of"thejfireshtinvention; f

Fig. 2 is a *sir'n'ilar viewembodyin'g 'a'imddified"formnf'the-finyention; and Fig. 3 is afmgmenta ry pian View 'of' a."gblfftifl'llb "embodying fegitin'es .Qf another modification gof he prse invention, iafi 'wi weid om direc ly abovethe,striking'faceeftheohlbwhen said ch p is inthepogitionof acli1reSSiD when" (not'hOWIi), Thepresent invention is atplfflicableto go lfehi b -'he,aids"havin'githerpitohefi'gor substantially fiat -s'trikingrsurfaces. fIn the formfilluetrated inFig. il j the iron'olu b' comprises a head andeqshaflft :SThe striking snrfdcefl offlh'ea'd "H'ih ats wser 1s 'E Q ST il' fd nt t,f tf fi y armneei 11in perail elarfdfelsp sifibstantialiy paralleltofthe 1$ i "'V h i h i u m ve w en hi "is heljri in 1 proper.tr'iking'gpo sition r'elative toewel} resting onenoh surface.

in order to jfpIOYfde a 'proper indicia "for :tiie*corre'ct'position-"of 'theo'hih, 'es when addresing the ball, lprefertp epply orimpre s s .a, band-or s trip iwvhi ohfc ntz; st

e 1 ,sintc lo ipr shade w h he n u 'iqb' o "or ha e iof :the l lllb 1iha1c1'iH;"anfc1 thewupper. q f st in isifd sposed'tointefi sect thepoinvofxintersectionofthe upper "edge? of e clu *neaid with :adiommg mrinh jl surfaee"of shaif tis. "Mostmodern' type iron on'xbjs have c r dh r.thantfl ot m edeetmtk 1: lf L'By th wing th oo'lorfcontrast 1m mthetate d' intersecting re i a q 3 1 7 M i i fhi hie quehiizi o QB 6b"-soured by tail g'rass' wneneddressing"the'bell'and yet lowfenough gtokeep' the point of intersection 'visi'bi e'en d thus enc'ioleethefgoi'ferito readily 'jdetermine ='when"- the contrast iine {is in "trueho ri zontai position in aniires sm thebtll. I V

The arrangement shown in Fig. ]2 is tsubstan epl lythe"samefinifnnotion"gs 'theiformillustrated Ielubfheafd inmolor"eont iepetwiththe"face ofithe 0111b, en'ctparaii'eltoftheground"surfae'whenin properstriking position. As in the form of Fig. 1, the top edge I! of band [6is arranged so that if extended, it will intersect the point ofintersection of the top edge I8 of club head H with the adjacentperipheral surface of shaft S.

Another arrangement for utilizing the features of the present inventionhas been illustrated in Fig. 3. In this form, the club head H has theusual grooves or indentations 25 on its polished striking face 24 and adull shade-contrasting strip 26 extends along-the length of the strikingface with its lower edge defining a line 21 parallel to the surface onwhich the club is rested and which also parallels the lower edge of thestriking face which is flat rather than rounded as in the other forms.Again in this form, line 21, if extended, would intersect the point ofintersection of the shaft S" with the club head H" but extends in offsetrelation to the axis of said shaft as is clearly evident in the planview position shown in Fig. 3.

As a consequence, the optical illusion created by the relation of thelength-wise axis of the shaft with the curvature of the top edges 8, I8or 28 is broken and the contrasting band may be readily located inperpendicular or transverse relation to the line of flight, thusenabling the golfer to obtain the proper addressing position andresulting correct line on the shot. While Fig. 3 represents a modifiedform, the view is a correct representation of the plan view of the Figs.1 and 2 forms except for the fiat bottom edge and the width of theshade-contrasting strip.

'While any suitable method of providing the color or shade contrast maybe utilized as by applying the bands 6 or [B as by painting, staining orthe like, I prefer to employ either chemical or electrical deposition ofanother metal on the polished surface of the club face to provide asubstantially permanent contrast. Such methods are in general use inindustry and hence detailed description of same appears unnecessary. Inthe wood club forms, the use of a bright metal strip provides suflicientcontrast with the painted or lacquered surface of the club head, butcontrast painting, surface indentation and similar distinguishingeffects may be utilized within the scope of this invention.

While I have referred to the use of a band or strip in shade contrastwith the striking surface of the club, which strip preferably would befrom one-eighth to one-half inch in width, another method of providingthe line demarcation is to color the top portion of the striking face asfor example above the edges 1 or H as shown in the drawings to contrastwith a natural metallic color or shade extending throughout theremainder of the Striking surface. In such event, this shade markingwould extend up to and across the top surface of the club head 8 or [8,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and in addition to providing the linedemarcation required in the practice of the present invention, wouldserve as a glare eliminating means, which feature would be particularlyvaluable in proper alinement and stroking of the club. Other variationsin said contrasting arrangements utilizing the imaginary intersectingline previously described may be utilized within the spirit and scope ofthis invention.

Consequently, where the term "band is used in the description and claimsas defining the color contrasting area which defines the visual lineutilized in alining the club, such term is intended to apply toirregularly shaped areas, as well as ribbon-like strips so long as suchareas provide 4 the flat edge located on the aforesaid imaginary line.Preferably, such bands will be within the dimensional range specified,although as specifically pointed out hereinbefore, other arrangementsmay be utilized within the spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is.

1. A golf club head having a shaft inclined upwardly from one end and aband on the upper surface of its striking face in shade contrast withthe shade of the rest of said striking surface, said band having oneedge arranged to parallel the surface over which the club is moved instriking a ball and lying on an imaginary straight line intersecting thepoint of intersection of the top edge of the club head with theadjoining peripheral surface of said shaft in the plane of said strikingface, and said line being offset with relation to the axis of said shaftto break the optical illusion created by the relation of the axis ofsaid shaft with said top edge when looking down on said head and shaftin the normal playing position.

2. A golf club comprising a head portion and a shaft portion, said headportion having curved top and bottom edges and a striking surfacebetween said edges inclined with respect to the axis of said shaft,portion of said striking surface being marked in shade contrast to anadjoining surface, thereby defining a line extending for a substantialdistance along the striking surface perpendicular to the line of fiightof a golf ball struck by said striking surface, and arranged so that ifextended, said line would intersect the point of intersection betweenthe top head surface and the peripheral surface of the shaft in theplane of said striking face, and said line being offset with relation tothe axis of said shaft to break the optical illusion created by therelation of the axis of said shaft with said top edge when looking downon said head and shaft in the normal playing position.

3. A golf club head as set out in claim 1 wherein said band is ofuniform width and the upper edge forms said one edge.

4. A golf club head as set out in claim 1 wherein said striking face isformed of polished metal and said band is formed by a contrasting metaldeposited on said polished metal.

5. A golf club as set out in claim 1 wherein said head is of polishedmetal, said band is a dull contrasting surface covering the upperportion of said striking face to the upper edge of said head, and thelower edge of said band forms said one edge.

6. A golf club head having a shaft inclined upwardly from one endthereof, said head ineluding a striking face, a band on the uppersurface of said striking face in shade contrast there with, said bandhaving one edge parallelling the surface over which the club head isintended to be moved in striking a golf ball, said band being offsetwith relation to the axis of said shaft and being so positioned that anextension of said one edge thereof will be tangential to the peripheryof the club shaft at the juncture of the club head with said shaft.

7. A golf club head having a shaft inclined upwardly from one endthereof, said head including a striking face, a band on the uppersurface of said striking face in shade contrast therewith, said bandhaving the upper edge thereof parallelling the surface over which theclub head is intended to be moved in striking a golf ball.

5 said band being offset with relation to the axis of the shaft andbeing so positioned that an extension of the upper edge thereof will betangential to the periphery of the club shaft at the juncture of theclub head with said shaft.

EMERY M. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number Number 10 9,884

8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name I Date Braid et a1 Nov. 18, 1902 McDougalJan. 21, 1919 Beach Jan. 3, 1922 Reach Oct. 24, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTSCountry Date Great Britain A. D. 1913 Great Britain July 16, 1925

